Fire escape device with belt tightening slide

ABSTRACT

A fire escape in the form of an elongated flexible member anchored at the upper end thereof to a building structure or stationary device associated with the building structure with the flexible member being of sufficient length to reach to the ground or some other lower level by which a person may safely escape from a fire in the building. A slidable, manually actuated device is mounted on the flexible member for longitudinal sliding movement in relation thereto with the rate of movement or descent being manually controlled by a person supported therefrom by a belt type sling. The sling includes a flexible member such as a rope having its ends connected to the ends of a belt and a central portion extending through the slidable device with a slide receiving both portions of the rope for movement toward and away from the person whose torso is encircled by the sling thereby enabling the sling to be snugly engaged with the torso of the person using the device thereby preventing the person from sliding downwardly through the sling thereby providing a fire escape device which is easy to use but yet will effectively retain the user in the belt type sling.

United States Patent [191 Rabelos [111 3,834,489 Sept. 10, 1974 FIREESCAPE DEVICE WITH BELT [21] Appl. No.: 356,081

[52] US. Cl. 182/5 [51] Int. Cl. A62b l/14 [58] Field of Search 182/5,6, 7

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,351,734 9/1920Barrington..... 182/5 1,826,263 10/1931 Stephens. 182/5 3,504,763 4/1970Rabelos 182/7 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 977,384 12/1964 GreatBritain.... 182/5 1,257,404 2/1961 France 182/5 Primary ExaminerReinaldoP. Machado Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Clarence A. OBrien & Harvey B.Jacobson [57] ABSTRACT A fire escape in the form of an elongatedflexible member anchored at the upper end thereof to a buildingstructure or stationary device associated with the building structurewith the flexible member being of sufficient length to reach to theground or some other lower level by which a person may safely escapefrom a fire in the building. A slidable, manually actuated device ismounted on the flexible member for longitudinal sliding movement inrelation thereto with the rate of movement or descent being manuallycontrolled by a person supported therefrom by a belt type sling. Thesling includes a flexible member such as a rope having its endsconnected to the ends of a belt and a central portion extending throughthe slidable device with a slide receiving both portions of the rope formovement toward and away from the person whose torso is encircled by thesling thereby enabling the sling to be snugly engaged with the torso ofthe person using the device thereby preventing the person from slidingdownwardly through the sling thereby providing a fire escape devicewhich is easy to use but yet will efiectively retain the user in thebelt type sling.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures FIRE ESCAPE DEVICE WITH BELT TIGI-ITENINSLIDE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The presentinvention generally relates to a fire escape device and moreparticularly a portable window fire escape device which enables personstrapped in the interior of a building or other enclosure to safelydescend from the building.

2. Description of the Prior Art Many instances occur of fatal injuriesresulting from being trapped in the interior of a building above theground floor by fire. While many buildings are equipped with permanentfire escape stairways, it sometimes occurs that access to such fireescape stairways is precluded by the location of the fire or by otherfactors which results in preventable injury and loss of life. ln myprior U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,763, issued Apr. 7, 1970, there is disclosed afire escape device in the form of an elongated rope that is anchored toa portion of a building together with a sleeve that is slidable thereonand provided with a sling for supporting a person with the occupant ofthe sling being capable of manually controlling the rate of descent ofthe sling. Other prior patents disclose sling type devices such as U.S.Pat. No. 188,817, issued Mar. 27, 1877; U.S. Pat. No. 269,268, issuedDec. 19, 1882; U.S. Pat. No. 896,241, issued Aug. 18, 1908; U.S. Pat.No. 926,430, issued June 29, 1909 and U.S. Pat. No. 1,169,760, issuedFeb. 1, 1916. While such devices may perform satisfactorily under somecircumstances, one of the problems which occur with most such devices isthe ca-.

pability of a person engaging the sling with the portion of his anatomywhich the sling is intended to engage and to retain engagement betweenhimself and the sling during descent.

SUMMARY OF THE lNVENTlON An object of the present invention is toprovide a portable window-fire escape device incorporating an elongatedflexible rope, a slidable sleeve assembly mounted on the rope and a belttype sling connected to the sleeve for movement down the rope with thebelt type sling including means for tightening the belt around the uppertorso of the person using the device so that the belt type sling cannotslide upwardly over the arms and head area of the user when descendingthe rope.

Another object of'the invention is to provide a fire escapedeviceinwhich the belt type sling includes end ropes connected theretoand connected to the sleeve together with a slide on the ropes to bemoved toward the person using the belt type sling thereby tightening thesling about the upper torso of the person using the fire escape device.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fire escapedevice'that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to use, safein operation andcapable of being easily and. securely associated withthe person using the device which greatly facilitates the effectivenessthereof and at the same time preventsaccidental disengagement or releaseof the person using the device.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the portable fire escape deviceillustrating its manner of use.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the sleeve which slidably engages therope.

F1G..3 is a vertical sectional view of the construction of FlG'. 2illustrating the structural details thereof.

FIG. 4 is a transverse, sectional view illustrating further structuraldetails of the sleeve.

FIG. 5 is a detail sectional view of the slide for securely connectingthe belt type sling to the person using the device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The portable, window fire escapeof the present invention is generally designated by the referencenumeral l0 and includes an elongated flexible rope 12 of natural orsynthetic fiber material formed in a conventional manner with a loop 14being formed in the upper end thereof in a conventional manner with theloop 14 engaging a hook 16 or any other stationary support positioned atany convenient location within a room, building, or the like or may bepositioned slightly externally of a window or the like. The rope 12 maybe connected to any stationary object capable of holding the weight of aperson 18 as he descends down the rope 12. The length of the rope 12 issufficient to reach ground level or other safe lower levels from variousfloor levels in homes, apartment buildings, office buildings, hotels andother similar buildings which are occupied by people above the groundfloor. Thus, when the loop 14 is secured to a suitable anchor or supportat the elevation of a room or other enclosed area, the other end of therope will terminate at or adjacent ground level or other safe level sothat the person 18 may safely escape from a fire by using this device.

The fire escape device 10 includes a sleeve assembly 20 that isconstructed in the form of a generally rectan gular block or body 22having a vertical passageway 24 formed therein for receiving the rope12. The passageway 24 may extend from top to bottom end of the body 22and may be partially cylindrical in construction. One side of thepassageway 24 is defined by parallel walls 26 which slidably receive aclamping plate 28. The clamp plate 28 is also in the form of a blockwhich extends from top to bottom edge of the body 22 and includes apartially cylindrical or concave clamping surface 30 which cooperateswith the cylindrical or partially cylindrical passageway 24 tofrictionally clamp the rope 12 when the clamp plate 28 is moved inwardlyin the passageway 24.

For moving the clamp 28 inwardly, a screw-threaded member 32 is threadedthrough an internally threaded aperture 34 in the body 22 with theaperture 34 communicating'with the wall of the passageway 24 whichconnects and is perpendicular to the walls 26. The inner end of thethreaded member 32 is rotatably connected to the clamp plate 28 as at 37so that as the threaded member 32 is threaded inwardly, the clamp plate28 will be moved laterally inwardly thereby frictionally gripping andclamping the rope 12 between the partially cylindrical or concavesurfaces of the passageway 24 and the inner surface 30 of the clampplate 28. The outer end of the threaded member 32 is provided with apermanently connected handle 36 of any suitable shape and configurationwhich will enable the person 18 to grasp the handle 36 to rotate thethreaded member 32 in either direction thereby tightening and looseningthe clamp plate 28 to provide manual control for the rate of descent ofthe sleeve assembly along the rope 12. FIG. 1 of the drawingsillustrates the manner in which the user 18 utilizes his feet to avoidinjury while he descends the rope by keeping his body away from the wallof the building.

The fire escape device also includes a sling assembly 40 that isconnected to the sleeve assembly 20 and which engages and supports theuser 18 from the sleeve assembly 20 which in turn supports the user 18from the rope 12. The sling assembly 40 includes a flexible belt 42 of alength to extend around the rear portion of the upper torso of the user18 and under the arms of the user. The ends of the belt 42 are connectedto the ends of a rope 44 which has the midportion thereof extendingthrough a transverse bore or passageway 46 formed in the bottom outercorner of the body 22 as illustrated in FIG. 1. Thus, the belt 42 isconnected to the sleeve assembly 20 by the rope 44 with the ends of therope 44 being connected to the belt 42 by suitable hems 48 and areinforcing rod extending perpendicular to the ends of the rope 44 whichis received in the hem 48. While the belt assembly 40 would be retainedin position as long as the arms of the user were positioned downwardlyalongside of his body, there is a possibility that due to the upwardforces exerted by the belt 42 and rope 44, the belt assembly could slideupwardly over the arms and head area of the user 18 which could resultin the user becoming disconnected or released from the fire escapedevice.

In order to prevent this possibility, the rope 44 is provided with aslide generally designated by numeral 50 and which includes a body orblock 52 of generally rectangular configuration with the surface 54thereof facing the user being curved. The body 52 is provided with apair of passageways or bores 56 and 58 which extend from the curvedsurface 54 and an opposed flat surface 60. As illustrated in FIG. 5, thebores or passageways 56 and 58 are oriented in diverging relationshipfrom an adjacent position on the surface 54 to a remote position on thesurface 60. Thus, both portions of the rope 44 extend through the body52 and the portions of the rope 44 between the body 50 and the slideassembly 20 are substantially parallel while the portions of the rope 44between the body 52 and the ends of the belt 42 extend laterallyoutwardly in diverging relation. This arrangement will provide africtional engagement between the portions of the rope 44 and the body52 so that the body 52 will be retained frictionally in adjustedposition since the portions of the rope received in the passageways 56and 58 are oriented in one diverging relation whereas the portions ofthe rope 44 between the body 52 and the ends of the belt extend inopposite diverging relation as illustrated in FIG. 5. This enables theslide 52 to be moved manually along the rope 44 but the slide will befrictionally held in position after it has been moved toward the frontsurface of the torso of the user 18 due to the forces exerted on therope 44 by the ends of the belt 42. Thus. when the belt 42 has beenpositioned in encircling relation to the torso of the body of the user,the user then may manually slide the body 52 towards his chest thussnugly embracing the belt in underlying relation to the arms and alongthe armpits so that even if the arms are raised to a substantiallyupward position, the belt assembly will still be retained in encirclingand supporting relation to the user 18.

The slide assembly 50 enables the size relationship of the slingassembly to be greatly increased by being manually moved toward thesleeve assembly 20 which facilitates the sling assembly being assembledwith the user either by stepping into the sling assembly by placing hisfeet alternately into the interior of the sling assembly or by placingthe sling assembly downwardly over the head until the arms can bebrought into overlying relation to the sling assembly. Then, by pullingthe slide assembly toward his chest, the user 18 may snugly embrace thesling assembly about his upper torso thereby precluding the possibilitythat he could slip down through the sling assembly while descendingalong the rope 12. This greatly enhances the safety factor of the fireescape device and eliminates any possibility of the fire escape devicebecoming disengaged from the person that it is supporting and enablesthe device to be used by persons that may be injured or in a conditionin which they are not sufficiently strong to resist forces that would beexerted by the sling device were the slide assembly 50 not used.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A portable fire escape comprising an elongated flexible member havingan upper end capable of being anchored with respect to a buildingstructure and having a length to depend to adjacent gorund level orother safe level, a sleeve assembly mounted on the flexible member forlongitudinal movement, sling means connected to the sleeve assembly forsupporting a person therefrom, and means on the sleeve assembly forgripping engagement with the flexible member to control the rate ofdescent therealong, said gripping means including a manually actuatedscrew-threaded member, said sling means including a flexible beltadapted to ex tend across the back surface of the upper torso of aperson, a rope connected to the ends of the belt and connected with thesleeve assembly, and a slide assembly mounted on the rope for movementtoward and away from the person supported by the sling means to tightenthe belt and rope about the upper torso of such a person therebypreventing the person from sliding down through the sling means, saidslide assembly including a block having a surface facing the sleeveassembly and a surface facing the person using the sling means, a pairof passageways extending through the block and communicating the aboveset forth surfaces, said passageways diverging from the surface facingthe person using the sling means to the surface facing the sleeveassembly for maintaining portions of the rope received therein indiverging relation, the portions of the rope extending from the block tothe ends of the belt extending in diverging relation whereby the blockwill frictionally lock itself on the rope when outward forces areexerted on the ends of the belt and connected portion of the rope.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein the rope connecting thebelt to the sleeve assembly includes a one piece rope having themidportion thereof extending through a passageway in the sleeveassembly.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said sleeve assemblyincludes a block having a vertical passageway therein receiving theflexible member, a clamp plate in said passageway and extendingthroughout the length thereof for movement toward and away from theflexible member to frictionally grip the flexible member for locking thesleeve assembly in adjusted position thereon and enabling longitudinalmovement therealong, said screw-threaded member engaging said clampplate and being threaded into a threaded passageway in the block, saidthreaded member having a handle on the outer end thereof by which thefrictional engagement between the clamp plate, passageway and flexiblemember may be controlled thereby controlling the rate of descent of thesleeve assembly on the flexible member.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said flexible member isin the form of a rope having means on the upper end for connection witha stationary support.

5. The structure as defined in claim 4 wherein said rope connected tothe ends of the belt extends through the lower outer corner of thesleeve assembly to facilitate movement of a person down the externalwall of a building without coming into contact with the wall orprojections thereon such as window ledges and the like.

6. In a portable fire escape of the type comprising an elongatedflexible member having an upper end capable of being anchored withrespect to a building structure and having a length to depend toadjacent ground level or other safe level, a sleeve assembly mounted onthe flexible member for longitudinal movement, sling means connected tothe sleeve assembly for supporting a person therefrom, and means on thesleeve assembly for gripping engagement withthe flexible member tocontrol the rate of descent therealong, said gripping means including amanually actuated screw-threaded member and said sling means including aflexible belt adapted to extend at least partially around the uppertorso of a person; that improvement comprising a flexible elementconnected to the ends of the belt and connected with the sleeveassembly, and a slide mounted on the flexible element for movementtoward and away from the person supported by the sling means to tightenthe belt and flexible element about the upper torso of such a personthereby preventing the person from sliding down through the sling means,said slide including a block having a surface facing the sleeve assemblyand a surface facing the person using the sling means, a pair .ofpassageways extending through the block and communicating with saidsurfaces, said passageways diverging from the surface facing the personusing the sling means to the surface facing the sleeve assembly formaintaining portions of the flexible element received therein indiverging relation, the portions of the flexible element extending fromthe block to the ends of the belt extending in diverging relationwhereby the block and flexible element will frictionally lock whenoutward forces are exerted on the ends of the belt and connectedportions of the flexible element.

7. In a portable fire escape of the type comprising an elongatedflexible member having an upper end capable of being anchored withrespect to a building structure and having a length to depend toadjacent ground level or other safe level, a sleeve assembly mounted onthe flexible member for longitudinal movement, sling means connected tothe sleeve assembly for supporting a person therefrom, and means on thesleeve assembly for gripping engagement with the flexible member tocontrol the rate of descent therealong, said sling means including aflexible member adapted to extend at least partially around the torso ofa person; that improvement comprising a slide mounted on the flexiblemember for movement toward and away from the person supported by thesling means to tighten the flexible member about the torso of such aperson thereby preventing the person from sliding down through the slingmeans, said slide including a body having a surface facing the sleeveassembly and a surface facing the person using the sling means, a pairof passageways extending through the body and communicating with saidsurfaces, said passageways diverging from the surface facing the personusing the sling means to the surface facing the sleeve assembly formaintaining portions of the flexible member received therein indiverging relation, the portions of the flexible member extending fromthe body towards the person using the sling means extending in divergingrelation and the portions of the flexible member extending from the bodyto the sleeve assembly being in close parallel relation whereby the bodyand flexible member will frictionally lock when outward forces areexerted on the portions of the flexible member which diverge from thebody for enabling the body to be moved toward the person using the slingmeans for snugly engaging the flexible member around the torso of such aperson.

1. A portable fire escape comprising an elongated flexible member havingan upper end capable of being anchored with respect to a buildingstructure and having a length to depend to adjacent gorund level orother safe level, a sleeve assembly mounted on the flexible member forlongitudinal movement, sling means connected to the sleeve assembly forsupporting a person therefrom, and means on the sleeve assembly forgripping engagement with the flexible member to control the rate ofdescent therealong, said gripping means including a manually actuatedscrew-threaded member, said sling means including a flexible beltadapted to extend across the back surface of the upper torso of aperson, a rope connected to the ends of the belt and connected with thesleeve assembly, and a slide assembly mounted on the rope for movementtoward and away from the person supported by the sling means to tightenthe belt and rope about the upper torso of such a person therebypreventing the person from sliding down through the sling means, saidslide assembly including a block having a surface facing the sleeveassembly and a surface facing the person using the sling means, a pairof passageways extending through the block and communicating the aboveset forth surfaces, said passageways diverging from the surface facingthe person using the sling means to the surface facing the sleeveassembly for maintaining portions of the rope received therein indiverging relation, the portions of the rope extending from the block tothe ends of the belt extending in diverging relation whereby the blockwill frictionally lock itself on the rope when outward forces areexerted on the ends of the belt and connected portion of the rope. 2.The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein the rope connecting the beltto the sleeve assembly includes a one piece rope having the midportionthereof extending through a passageway in the sleeve assembly.
 3. Thestructure as defined in claim 2 wherein said sleeve assembly includes ablock having a vertical passageway therein receiving the flexiblemember, a clamp plate in said passageway and extending throughout thelength thereof for movement toward and away from the flexible member tofrictionally grip the flexible member for locking the sleeve assembly inadjusted position thereon and enabling longitudinal movement therealong,said screw-threaded member engaging said clamp plate and being threadedinto a threaded passageway in the block, said threaded member having ahandle on the outer end thereof by which the frictional engagementbetween the clamp plate, passageway and flexible member may becontrolled thereby controlling the rate of descent of the sleeveassembly on the flexible member.
 4. The structure as defined in claim 3wherein said flexible member is in the form of a rope having means onthe upper end for connection with a stationary support.
 5. The structureas defined in claim 4 wherein said rope connected to the ends of thebelt extends through the lower outer corner of the sleeve assembly tofacilitate movement of a person down the external wall of a buildingwithout coming into contact with the wall or projections thereon such aswindow ledges and the like.
 6. In a portable fire escape of the typecomprising an elongated flexible member having an upper end capable ofbeing anchored with respect to a building structure and having a lengthto depend to adjacent ground level or other safe level, a sleeveassembly mounted on the flexible member for longitudinal movement, slingmeans connected to the sleeve assembly for supporting a persontherefrom, and means on the sleeve assembly for gripping engagement withthe flexible member to control the rate of descent therealong, saidgripping means including a manually actuated screw-threaded member andsaid sling means including a flexible belt adapted to extend at leastpartially around the upper torso of a person; that improvementcomprising a flexible element connected to the ends of the belt andconnected with the sleeve assembly, and a slide mounted on the flexibleelement for movement toward and away from the person supported by thesling means to tighten the belt and flexible element about the uppertorso of such a person thereby preventing the person from sliding downthrough the sling means, said slide including a block having a surfacefacing the sleeve assembly and a surface facing the person using thesling means, a pair of passageways extending through the block andcommunicating with said surfaces, said passageways diverging from thesurface facing the person using the sling means to the surface facingthe sleeve assembly for maintaining portions of the flexible elementreceived therein in diverging relation, the portions of the flexibleelement extending from the block to the ends of the belt extending indiverging relation whereby the block and flexible element willfrictionally lock when outward forces are exerted on the ends of thebelt and connected portions of the flexible element.
 7. In a portablefire escape of the type comprising an elongated flexible member havingan upper end capable of being anchored with respect to a buildingstructure and having a length to depend to adjacent ground level orother safe level, a sleeve assembly mounted on the flexible member forlongitudinal movement, sling means connected to the sleeve assembly forsupporting a person therefrom, and means on the sleeve assembly forgripping engagement with the flexible member to control the rate ofdescent therealong, said sling means including a flexible member adaptedto extend at least partially around the torso of a person; thatimprovement comprising a slide mounted on the flexible member formovement toward and away from the person supported by the sling means totighten the flexible member about the torso of such a person therebypreventing the person from sliding down through the sling means, saidslide including a body having a surface facing the sleeve assembly and asurface facing the person using the sling means, a pair of passagewaysextending through the body and communicating with said surfaces, saidpassageways diverging from the surface facing the person using the slingmeans to the surface facing the sleeve assembly for maintaining portionsof the flexible member received therein in diverging relation, theportions of the flexible member extending from the body towaRds theperson using the sling means extending in diverging relation and theportions of the flexible member extending from the body to the sleeveassembly being in close parallel relation whereby the body and flexiblemember will frictionally lock when outward forces are exerted on theportions of the flexible member which diverge from the body for enablingthe body to be moved toward the person using the sling means for snuglyengaging the flexible member around the torso of such a person.